Liquid ejection devices that include one or more alignment features are known, see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,536,868 B1, issued on Mar. 25, 2003, to Kawamura et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,243 B1, issued on Nov. 30, 2004, to Yamaguchi et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,536,868 to Kawamura et al., issued Mar. 25, 2003, entitled “Liquid ejection type print head, printing apparatus provided with same and a method for producing a liquid ejection type print head,” discloses a print element unit. The print element unit includes a print element substrate, and a plate-like member having a surface to be adhered on which the print element substrate is positioned and fixedly adhered via heat-hardening adhesive. A first reference surface of the plate-like member is used as a positioning reference for the print element substrate. A holder member for holding tanks for storing liquid supplied to the print element substrate has a second reference surface that is engaged with the first reference surface of the plate-like member and with a reference surface of a mounting portion of a carriage member. When the second reference surfaces are engaged with the first surface, the print element unit and the holder member are fixedly adhered to each other via a hardening adhesive at a low (normal) temperature.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,243 to Yamaguchi et al., issued Nov. 30, 2004, entitled “Liquid jet print head and liquid jet printing apparatus,” discloses a liquid jet print head that includes a printing unit, a printing device substrate and a supporting substrate. Projections of the supporting substrate are used as a reference for positioning when the printing device substrate is attached to the supporting substrate and when the print head is installed in a carriage of a printer. Further, all reference portions used for positioning in the three-dimensional directions when installing the print head in the carriage are gathered in the printing unit.
Typically, the alignment features are formed in a plate, also referred to as a supporting member, to which the printing device substrate is attached to in these types of liquid ejection devices. The material used for the plate is usually a ceramic material that is expensive when compared to other materials such as plastic. As a consequence, the size and the complexity of the plate are kept to a minimum in order to reduce overall printhead cost. As a result, the distance between the alignment features is constrained. This may lead to alignment errors, for example, rotation alignment errors, when the printhead is mounted to the print carriage which can cause printed drop placement error ultimately resulting in reduced image quality.
As such, there is a need to reduce alignment errors associated with mounting of a printhead to a print carriage without significantly increasing printhead cost.